Remains of Mississippi Airman Identified 81 Years After Death as Prisoner Of War

The remains of Staff Sgt. Alvin R. Scarborough, a 22-year-old airman from Mississippi, have been identified 81 years after he died as a prisoner of war during World War II, CBS News reports, citing the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Scarborough was serving in the 454th Ordnance Company when the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942. He was captured and forced to endure the brutal Bataan Death March, eventually being held at the Cabanatuan POW (prisoner of war) camp.

Scarborough died on July 28, 1942, and was buried in a mass grave at the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery. In 2018, remains from the grave were sent to the DPAA for analysis. Using anthropological analysis, circumstantial evidence, and mitochondrial DNA, researchers were able to identify Scarborough on September 21, 2023.

His remains will be laid to rest in Carthage, Mississippi, on a date to be determined.